World No 2 Ons Jabeur admitted she should have been “more concentrated” on certain shots after suffering a devastating defeat in her WTA Finals opener. On Monday, Jabeur fell just short to Aryna Sabalenka as the Belarusian recovered from a set down to earn a hard-fought 3-6 7-6 (5) 7-5 win.
The match lasted just less than two and a half hours. After falling just short in her first group stage match, Jabeur admitted that probably a long night was ahead of her. “We’re both unpredictable. She could hit so many winners, and then miss a lot of balls, so that that didn’t help me much.
I should have been more concentrated on certain shots. I still got a chance here, but usually it’s tough to sleep after a tough loss like this,” Jabeur said, per WTA Insider.
Jabeur: “We’re both unpredictable.
She could hit so many winners, and then miss a lot of balls, so that that didn’t help me much. I should have been more concentrated on certain shots.”
“I still got a chance here, but usually it’s tough to sleep after a tough loss like this.”
pic.twitter.com/COaBIIdhHS — WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) November 1, 2022
How Jabeur lost to Sabalenka?
Jabeur got off to a very good start to the match, breaking Sabalenka in the first and ninth games to pretty easily win the opener.
After losing the first set, Sabalenka bounced back at the start of the second set as she claimed back-to-back breaks to open a 3-0 lead. Jabeur got one break back in the fourth game, but Sabalenka broke again in the fifth game to again go up by a double break.
Down by two breaks, Jabeur refused to quit as she broke back Sabalenka in the sixth and 10th games to tie the second set to five games apiece. Also, Jabeur saved a set point on her serve in the ninth game before forcing a tie-break.
After saving a set point and recovering from a double break down, Jabeur had a 5-3 lead in the tie-break and was just two points away from winning the match. Jabeur then dropped the next four points as Sabalenka forced a decider.
In the third set, Jabeur earned an early break and led 4-2 through the first six games of the set. But once again, Jabeur failed to capitalize on her lead as Sabalenka earned breaks in the eighth and 12th games to overturn the deficit and hand the Tunisian a devastating loss. Jabeur plays Jessica Pegula in her second group match.
